7mm MOK BR Standard 4MT Tank

Right, I can confirm some more detail from yesterdays post. The piston rod packing consist of two shaped interlocking pieces that fit around the piston rod and there are two sets of these within the stuffing box. They are primarily lubricated by the oil feed pipe that enters at an angle into the rear cylinder cover. The swab box on the slidebar is to ensure that there is some lubrication on the piston rod as it enters the packing to make sure the interface isn't dry, but no more that that. Hope this explains it.
Regards
Martin

Being part of the team that originally restored 80136 to service, I can confirm that (nearly) all the external brass components are reproduction. That said, I can assure you that the original owner Philip Oldfield is a real stickler for authenticity and made a lot of effort to source the correct original, or good replica parts, so I will be surprised if anything isn't correct.

Trivia point; the only original external brass part on the loco., is the window frame immediately behind the driver's seat for when going in reverse. For some reason the scrappers missed this in Barry, so it was still on the loco. when we got it.

An update and a question, more or less finished my 4MT, couple of issues with it's running, but nothing that cannot be fixed given some deep cleaning of pickups, wheels and club layout rails (in particular) and fitting of window frames. Whole thing is scheduled to visit the Warren Haywood Paint shop in May, chassis is done, but body and lining out requires a steadier hand than mine I think. But all that's beside the point. Have been studying the financial world and latest bank statement, seems recent festive season was not as crippling as expected, so an old itch to try MOK 9F keeps recurring. Anyone had a crack at one? Opinions on kit please, also which to use Slaters Wheels or Dave Sharps offering?

I can't help with the 9F questions but judging how good the 4MT is and how easy it was to build, I would think it's another excellent kit. As to the wheels, I personally am more than happy with the look and quality of Slaters wheels and don't see the value in paying more for cast wheels, but I'm a bit of a philistine in that respect. Others will have a contrary opinion but each to their own.

On my 4MT I found I had to file the inner faces on the front cylinder relief valves to stop shorting on the curves. It also needs more weight but I'll address that later. See my 7 mm miscellany thread on adding weight to locos.
Cheers,
Peter

An update and a question, more or less finished my 4MT, couple of issues with it's running, but nothing that cannot be fixed given some deep cleaning of pickups, wheels and club layout rails (in particular) and fitting of window frames. Whole thing is scheduled to visit the Warren Haywood Paint shop in May, chassis is done, but body and lining out requires a steadier hand than mine I think. But all that's beside the point. Have been studying the financial world and latest bank statement, seems recent festive season was not as crippling as expected, so an old itch to try MOK 9F keeps recurring. Anyone had a crack at one? Opinions on kit please, also which to use Slaters Wheels or Dave Sharps offering?

Regards
Richard

Click to expand...

If you can afford the kit do it you won't regret it. As for wheels again if you can afford them buy the all metal Korean ones that Dave had done especially. I brought Slaters ones before Dave announced the Korean ones so I have both but the Korean ones are much finer and look far more like the real thing. They have a 5mm axle on them but the bearings to suit come packed in the wheel box ready to fit. ABC do a special motor gearbox specially to suit the kit with several gear options. All in I think you are looking at a £1000 outlay for kit, wheels and motor gearbox now plus a few bits like couplings which are not in the kit.

An update and a question, more or less finished my 4MT, couple of issues with it's running, but nothing that cannot be fixed given some deep cleaning of pickups, wheels and club layout rails (in particular) and fitting of window frames. Whole thing is scheduled to visit the Warren Haywood Paint shop in May, chassis is done, but body and lining out requires a steadier hand than mine I think. But all that's beside the point. Have been studying the financial world and latest bank statement, seems recent festive season was not as crippling as expected, so an old itch to try MOK 9F keeps recurring. Anyone had a crack at one? Opinions on kit please, also which to use Slaters Wheels or Dave Sharps offering?

Regards
Richard

Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

I totally agree with Markjj. I am just in the final stages of the build and have to say it has been a very enjoyable experience. I used the MOK wheel set and ABC gearbox/motor and it runs like the proverbial sewing machine.

I'm also coming to the end of my build and I'm doing the 'where does this leftover bit go' exercise. The whole exercise has been a joy despite the odd glitch in the instructions. There are some replacement pages on the web site. I've taken my time and so far it has been two years in the works. The firebox pipework is done on the left hand side and I am trying to find the casting for the valve on the left side which appears in the photographs without any identification.
I bought the Slaters wheels but then switched to the Korean wheels in S7 as a treat. They are worth it. I am using a SDMP 40:1 two stage gearbox and a Canon motor. The replacement 5mm bearings were easy to source off the net. Dave has some replacement parts to correct some kitting and design mistakes. The trickiest job is folding the footplate, it is very long and very flimsy.
I am trying to resist the temptation to do a second. The one above is 002 to work through Aberbeeg on the iron ore and I am tempted to do 250 as it was shedded with 002. The iron ore trains were made up of one on the front and one on the back!
Simon

That's a lot for toy train. But then again it's still a lot if you go for the cheaper Slaters wheels, so it depends on what you are willing to spend on a hobby.

Markjj, you have Slaters and MOK wheels!!! Then you need to buy another kit and build 2, or build it as a 4-20-0 with 12 wheel tender!!!.

Click to expand...

It's far more than a "Toy Train" though it's a complete work of art lol.... Even as a kit in a box it just amazes me the work that's gone into it.

I actually have 3 sets of Slaters and 4 sets of the Korean wheels and 4 kits to go with them... I originally ordered 3 kits decided to up it to 4.... All I need now is a few years worth of time to build them all along with all the other kits I have stockpiled or alternatively employ a full time loco builder to do them for me....
When I ordered the kits Dave had sold out of wheels or at least had orders for them awaiting payment but a few people didn't answer mails and calls so I jumped in and took my chance after seeing them for real...
If you can afford them buy them they are worth every penny. I hope one day if he re-vamp the 8f kits he will do wheels for them as well I know they are coming for the 4mt hopefully....

Thank you Adrian
I recommended that someone tried his for the Ivatt kit on RMWEB as they had brought another suppliers cast wheels that were poor.... They did and they looked superb. Unfortunately Mark Wood only supplies the castings and not finished wheels now I believe.... Whilst I can mill and drill stuff I never really learnt to do turning so it would mean having to get someone to do mine if I went down that route.

As always I'd encourage people to have a go - it's not as difficult as you think - IMHO turning is easier than milling. Mark does provide a very good guide for turning his castings. My solution was to buy a few cheap wheel castings on eBay to practice on. The other advantage of the castings is that it allows you to decide for yourself insulation arrangements and crankpins etc. I'm certainly favouring split axle options at the moment and I have a couple of other ideas to try out. I have a set of 8F wheels and V2 wheels from Mark - unfortunately I'm currently putting the V2 in front of the 8F in the build list.

As always I'd encourage people to have a go - it's not as difficult as you think - IMHO turning is easier than milling. Mark does provide a very good guide for turning his castings. My solution was to buy a few cheap wheel castings on eBay to practice on. The other advantage of the castings is that it allows you to decide for yourself insulation arrangements and crankpins etc. I'm certainly favouring split axle options at the moment and I have a couple of other ideas to try out. I have a set of 8F wheels and V2 wheels from Mark - unfortunately I'm currently putting the V2 in front of the 8F in the build list.

Click to expand...

Having thought back to some of the stuff I used to machine on the mill you could be right Adrian. I only learnt to mill because I got fed up waiting for stuff in one of the jobs I did years ago. I can remember turning a candlestick at school many many years ago from a brass bar but that was about it on the lathe.
Your right though there's no harm in having go and trying it.
Split axles always seem to be a lot of extra work for a small improvement in running I often feel better bearings and setting things true and square in the first place is of greater benefit.
I struggle for time to build stock as it is though so getting nice wheels out of the box is a great time saver.....

Thanks one and all for the comments, suggestions and encouragement, including when applied to spending cash!

Had some updates from Dave Sharp as well about wheels, motors and boiler/smokebox bending services. Oh and also how easy it is to spend cash, you guys must of all gone to the same education establishment, mine was a save for a rainy day sort of place, and yes it could rain anytime soon, especially on March 29th, that's another story.

Setting aside the Id's of March, when I've done some more cogitating, I'll know which way to jump.